


A Secret Shared

by Aki (Akiko_Natsuko)



Series: Secrets [1]
Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Abuse, Promises, Secrets, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 10:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16553816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Aki





	A Secret Shared

    Karma yawned as their classroom finally came into sight, no longer bothered by the climb even though he didn’t appreciate it quite so early in the morning. Normally he arrived later, but Nagisa had been pleading with him to come to one of the early morning plotting sessions for weeks, and he had only held out this long because of the enjoyment he got from Nagisa trying to use every method at his disposal to convince him. Which had only been beaten by his love for the warm smile and shy kiss his eventual agreement had earned him.

“Karma!” He was dragged out of his pleasant thoughts by a loud shout, and blinking he turned to find Kayano jogging to catch up with, smiling as she came alongside him before adding in a surprised tone.  “You’re early today.” Karma would have been offended by the level of surprise she was showing, but he knew that his attendance record was enough to warrant it and instead he gave a careless shrug before grinning mischievously.

“Nagisa begged me to come.”

“Is he with you?” Kayano asked glancing around with a frown, not noting the way that Karma had stiffened as her words registered.  “I waited for him this morning, but he never showed.” Golden eyes narrowed, Nagisa was never late, and never failed to show up with letting people know, regardless of how difficult that might make things for him. And on top of that Kayano was one of his best friends, there was no way he would’ve just stood her up.

“No…” It took him a moment to remember to respond to her question, his gaze flicking around the grounds searching for a glimpse of pale blue.  “We agreed to meet here.”

“Maybe he’s running late?” Kayano mused quietly before her eyes widened as she remembered something, and Karma tensed.  “Or he might be ill he did look a little off yesterday afternoon.”

“What do you mean?” He demanded urgently, cursing himself for skipping out on afternoon classes the day before. He hadn’t been in the mood for training, and as he’d already arranged things for this morning, he had just headed home after lunch, although his escape had very nearly been foiled by Koro-sensei who seemed to have made it his mission in life to keep him in class.

“He was really pale,” Kayano replied looking slightly startled by the force of his question before she frowned in concern as she recalled Nagisa’s expression from the day before. _I should have spoken to him about it then._ “And he looked like he was about to cry…Karma?!” She shouted in alarm when she realised that he had darted away from her side before she could even finish what she had been trying to say to him.

“I’ll catch up with you,” Karma paused briefly to offer a smile, but even though she didn’t know him as well as Nagisa did, she could tell it was strained. “I’m going to get some juice,” he added before disappearing into the building, leaving her staring after him for a long moment as she contemplated chasing after him. However, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that he was off to cause mischief and she didn’t really want to get caught up with that this early in the morning. With a last worried glance, she turned and headed towards the spare classroom that they had commandeered for these early morning planning meetings.

****

    Karma cursed as he hurried along the corridor, two boxes of juice clutched in his hands so that he could at least prove that he hadn’t completely lied to Kayano. However, he had to stop himself from gripping them too tightly as worry wormed its way into his chest. He recognised this pattern of behaviour from Nagisa although it had been nearly two years since the last time he’d been faced with it and he growled, he had allowed himself to become complacent and managed to miss the signs because of that. He just hoped that Nagisa wouldn’t react by pushing him away.

    Reaching the door to the classroom he slowed to a walk, hesitating for only the briefest moment before sliding the door open and peering inside. Sure enough, Nagisa was sitting at his usual desk, his face turned towards the window so that Karma couldn’t get a clear look at his expression, but the slumped shoulders and faint tremors that he could see going through the smaller teen told him enough.

“Nagisa…” There was a faint flinch at his whisper, and his eyes narrowed even further, it took a lot to distract Nagisa to the point where he couldn’t detect someone approaching and that had been before he’d received any assassination training. “It’s just me,” he added softly as he stepped into the room and closed the door quietly behind him, hoping that they would have enough time to deal with this before anyone else appeared. A quick glance at Ritsu showed that the ‘away’ light was flashing and he guessed that she had hitched a ride in someone’s phone for the meeting.

“Morning,” Nagisa finally replied, and Karma winced, it had been a long time since the other teen had sounded that lost and defeated and he gritted his teeth.

“Nagisa,” he managed to keep his voice calm as he closed the rest of the distance between them, moving so that he could lean against the desk in front of Nagisa. He could see part of the shorter boy’s face now, noticing just how pale he was and scowling at the redness surrounding his eye and when Nagisa continued to stare out of the window he knew that he was still hiding something from him. “Look at me,” he ordered allowing a hint of steel to seep into his voice, knowing that it was the only way to breach the wall that Nagisa was trying to erect between them.

“I…”

“Look at me,” he repeated in an unyielding tone, and after another long moment, Nagisa finally obeyed, reluctance in every movement as he slowly turned to look at Karma head on and the red-head had to suck in a sharp breath to stop himself from losing his temper. Nagisa’s left eye and cheek were covered in a still darkening bruise, his eye swollen shut to the point where he could barely see and as their gazes met, he could see the tears swimming in his eyes. “Nagisa…” he whispered forcing himself to move, dropping juice onto Nagisa’s desk as he raised a hand to gently ghost over the injury that hadn’t been there the day before.

“I’m sorry…” Nagisa whispered, clearly struggling not to flinch back at the gesture and it was a struggle for Karma to keep the hurt from his expression at that reaction. He never wanted Nagisa to fear him.

“Don’t you dare apologise!” He said focusing instead on what the smaller teen had said, and he wasn’t quite as successful in keeping his voice as calm as his expression. “This isn’t your fault!” Normally hearing Karma repeat those words was enough to at least calm Nagisa somewhat, but today the smaller teen merely shut his eyes and shook his head, rejecting the offered comfort.

“But…” Nagisa whispered, keeping his eyes shut so that he didn’t have to see the expression he was sure he would find on the other teen’s face, his hands clenching on top of the desk as he added in a slightly wobbly voice.  “I made it worse this time.”

“What do you mean?” Karma asked with a frown, not liking the deviation from their normal method of dealing with this.

“I…”  Nagisa tried to respond, but his voice wouldn’t work properly, and Karma realised that the tremors wracking his body were getting stronger. There was no way he was going to be able to explain until he’d calmed down at least a little.

“Here drink this first,” he ordered with surprising gentleness, pressing the juice carton into Nagisa’s hand, lingering for a moment as his fingers brushed Nagisa’s before he leant back a bit. “Drink.” Thankfully Nagisa didn’t seem inclined to argue with him, and after a brief hesitation he lifted it and began to sip slowly, although it was clear that he didn't really taste it as there was a faraway look in his eyes that worried Karma.

**

    Gradually though the tremors began to lessen, and Karma let out a soft sigh of relief, waiting with patience that few knew he had until Nagisa finally set the drink down before looking up at him with a slightly more settled expression.

“What happened?” He prompted when the silence threatened to continue, crouching so that he could rest his arms on the desk and making himself level with Nagisa who sighed softly before glancing down at his hands.

“I…” Nagisa hesitated again before swallowing hard before forcing himself to continue. “She visited the school. She went to see Asano-san, to convince him to let me back into the main school.” Karma scowled, immediately prickling at the thought of being separated from Nagisa but as his thoughts turned to the chairman his scowl eased out, _we’re all his precious E class pawns, there’s no way he’ll let any of us go back of he has a way to stop it._ He couldn’t stand the man, but at that moment he was grateful for the man’s continuous desire to keep them downtrodden. Although it wouldn’t stop him from planning revenge of some sort later, after all, whatever he had said or done had resulted in this latest injury.

“I take it, that it didn’t go like she planned?”  

“No…” Nagisa shook his head, drawing on himself as he remembered the cold fury that been practically radiating from her when she came back from that meeting – it had put his own occasional bloodlust to shame. “She’d been off the night before, but nothing happened, and I thought that maybe it was safe…but…”

    Karma held perfectly still, his eyes beginning to glitter as he waited for Nagisa to continue, knowing that it was always this part that Nagisa found the hardest to share with him. As he waited for the smaller teen to continue, his thoughts drifted back to the first time he had got the inkling that Nagisa’s home life wasn’t what it should be - back to the day when he had managed to breach his friend’s walls and earn his trust…

_They had been eight at the time, and best of friends since they’d met in nursery. Where one went, the other was sure to follow, although whenever people watched them and their interactions they often puzzled how two so different children could have become so close. Even at that age Karma had been a whirling ball of activity and mischief, and everyone knew to expect trouble when they caught the gleam in his eyes. Nagisa, on the other hand, was much quieter, and somewhat reserved towards everyone apart from Karma, it was only when he was with the red-head that he would willingly interact with others._

_Karma was the only one that knew that it was something more than simple shyness. He watched over the small boy with a mixture of possessiveness and protectiveness, and he knew the shadows that appeared in the ever-watchful blue eyes even if he didn’t understand why they were there. Just as he knew that Nagisa preferred coming to play around his house, and the awed expression on his face whenever he watched Karma with his parents - he knew all this and yet at that time he didn’t have a clue what it meant._

_Then the day that changed every had happened. He’d been heading to Nagisa’s house as they’d planned to spend the afternoon at the park and just as he’d turned onto the path that led to his friend’s house he’d been bowled over by a small figure. The impact had sent them both flying back down the path, ending up in a tangle of small limbs with Karma on top of his unexpected assailant and he’d blinked as he stared down into familiar blue hair._

_“Nagisa?” He’d asked in confusion, golden eyes widening as a sob escaped the smaller boy who now had his arms wrapped around him with a desperation that scared him. Gently he patted the blue hair, trying to comfort the other even though he didn’t understand what was happening and it was then that he realised that this friend’s hair was no longer up like usual but draped over his shoulders. “Nagisa what happened?” Nagisa just gave another sob, refusing to look up and Karma sighed before tensing as he realised he could hear someone shouting for Nagisa within the house and at once his friend let out a whimper of fright._

_He didn’t know what had happened...but hearing that whimper meant that it no longer mattered. His Nagisa was frightened and upset, and that was all that mattered. Gently he pushed Nagisa up, untangling them until they were stood before reaching down and firmly grasping Nagisa’s hand in his, squeezing it until tearful blue eyes rose to meet his gaze._

_“Come on let’s go,” he encouraged somehow managing to force a smile onto his face, and after a brief hesitation, the smaller boy gave a tiny nod of agreement. Not giving him a chance to change his mind Karma pulled him along, gently tightening his hold whenever he felt the other hesitating or slowing town, determinedly heading in the opposite direction to the park as he knew that Nagisa wouldn’t want anyone else to see him crying._

_Eventually, they reached Karma’s intended destination, a small patch of grass behind the local shop which was mostly shielded from view by bushes. Slowly down he quietly guided Nagisa through the bushes and across the grass, and when they reached the back wall of the shop, he gently pushed the smaller boy down so that he was sitting, waiting until Nagisa had scooted back to lean against the wall before crouching down in front of him. For a long moment they just stared at one another, and then without breaking the gaze, Karma reached out to gently wipe at the tears staining Nagisa’s cheeks, golden eyes solemn._

_“Will you tell me what happened?” He asked finally as he sat back on his heels, biting his lip when Nagisa hesitated and adding in a pleading tone. “Please?”_

_“I…” Nagisa began, blinking puffy eyes at him before sniffling slightly before shaking his head as fresh tears trickled down his cheeks. “I want to…but…” It was clear that he wanted to, but something was holding him back, and Karma considered for a moment before offering the smaller boy a hopeful smile._

_“What if I promise not to tell anyone?” He asked, and Nagisa blinked, tilting his head to the side as he considered the red-head nervously. Karma knew that he had a habit of blurting everything out, but he had never once shared something that Nagisa had told him in confidence, and he hoped that, that would work in his favour. However, the silence continued to drag on, and he cautiously prompted the other boy to continue. “Nagisa?”_

_“’kay…”_

On that day hidden from the rest of the world by a flimsy barrier of bushes, Nagisa had finally told Karma the reason for all the quirks that the red-head had noticed. Told him about his mother who blamed him for not being born a girl, and who forced him to wear dresses and let her play with his hair as often as possible, and who dared to raise her hand to him on the rare occasions that Nagisa tried to fight back against her. Before that moment Karma had never truly hated anyone, but from that moment onwards he had hated the woman that dared to hurt his Nagisa. However, he had found himself bound by his word as Nagisa adamantly refused to let him tell anyone, not even his parents and scared of breaking that trust he had stayed silent, making Nagisa promise to come to him whenever anything happened.

    As they’d grown up the incidents had happened further and further apart much to their relief, although when they did happen, they tended to be more serious in nature…but…golden eyes darkened as he refocused on the nasty bruise, this was taking it to a whole other level, and he bit his lip knowing that he would need to broach the topic of telling someone else - not something he was looking forward to mentioning. They had tried once - just after starting middle school to tell a teacher, but she had refused to believe them and as Nagisa’s mother had settled down just after they had no extra proof to offer. That had been the moment that had sealed the fact that it was only Karma that he could trust with his secret. _But now we have different teachers. Teachers that want the best for each one of us even if I don’t really like acknowledging that fact._

“She…” Karma hastily redirected his attention back to the present as he realised that Nagisa had finally gathered himself enough to continue. “Apparently she tried to use her feminine wiles to persuade him, but he only wanted to talk about my disappointing performance.” The red-head had gaped at the first bit, struggling to hold back a somewhat hysterical laugh at the thought of Nagisa’s mother trying to act like Bitch-sensei, but all traces of humour vanished at the last bit, and he gritted his teeth. He might be glad that he wasn’t losing Nagisa from the class, but he knew just how much Nagisa doubted his academic abilities after ending up in this class, even though Koro-sensei had done a lot to build up his confidence.

“She kept going on about how I had ruined everything - that her future was ruined because I was in the E class and why wasn’t I trying harder to get back into the main school,” Nagisa had continued before he could come up with something comforting to say. Karma filed it away in the back of his mind as he continued to listen although every word was fanning the slow burn of anger in his chest. “I lost it…” Nagisa admitted with a choked laugh, his eyes overly bright as he stared at Karma.

“What…?”

“I told her that I had no intention of going back to the main school,” Nagisa replied before he could even finish his question, a spark appearing in his eyes that Karma recognised from the few times that the smaller teen had got truly angry at him - the day he’d been suspended being the most recent. “That I was happy in the E-class, and…and that my future was there,” his voice was shaking by the end of it and Karma could only begin to imagine how hard it must have been for him to say that to his mother. Wincing as he imagined what her reaction must’ve been - the horrible bruise making more sense, although it could never be justified.

    Seeing Nagisa beginning to tremble again he rose swiftly, shoving the desk aside so that he could wrap his arms tightly around the smaller teen, tightening his hold as Nagisa willingly buried his face against his chest. They remained like that for nearly ten minutes, both of them drawing comfort from the other as they both tried to get their thoughts back in order. Eventually, though they were startled apart when they heard movement in the corridor, both springing apart with slightly horrified expressions, although Karma promptly forgot his own alarm as he caught the sheer panic in Nagisa’s eyes.

“It’s okay,” he whispered reassuringly even as he hastily reached for Nagisa’s desk, quickly pulling it back into position before adding with a trace of his usual grin. “Just tell them we were practising your blocks again, and that I got an unlucky shot in.” The best cover was always something based on truth, and it was something they had been practising after school, Karma insisting on it after having been forced to watch Nagisa fighting Takaoka back on the helipad.

“Are you sure?” Nagisa asked hesitantly.  “I…”

“I’m sure,” Karma halted his weak protests, knowing that Nagisa was worried about him being blamed for the injury but bruises were a frequent part of their training, and as long as the shorter teen knew that he would never hurt him he didn’t care what the rest of the class would think. Smiling he ghosted his fingers over the injured cheek before dipping his head to press a teasing kiss to Nagisa’s forehead, chuckling at the slightly cross-eyed look he received.

“Thank you,” Nagisa whispered offering him a weak attempt at a smile, but the gratitude and affection were clear in his eyes.

“Anytime,” Karma replied just as quietly, scooping up his own untouched juice box just as the door to the classroom burst open and the first of their classmates began to arrive. Brushing his fingers over Nagisa’s shoulder, he retreated to his own seat although his gaze never left the smaller teen, even when people spotted the bruises, immediately gathering around Nagisa and demanding to know what had happened. He could hear the slight hesitation in Nagisa’s voice as used the lie Karma had given him, but not enough for anyone else to notice, and he met the accusing glances that came his way with a calm expression. _It doesn’t matter what you think as long as Nagisa is safe and doesn’t lose his trust in me…_

   He knew that they still had a lot more to talk about, and he fully intended to bring up the issue of talking to their teachers, but he knew from experience that the smaller teen would be going home with him after school where they could talk in private. But as Nagisa shyly turned in his seat to offer him an apologetic smile, he couldn’t help but feel proud and relieved that he was still the one that Nagisa chose to confide in.

 


End file.
